Residents’ fury over ‘pay to park’ scheme

MORE HOMEOWNERS NEAR HOSPITAL WILL NEED £31 PERMITS FOR CARS

RESIDENTS have hit out at council bosses after being forced to pay to park outside their own homes.

A permit scheme that came into place in Stockport means people living by Stepping Hill Hospital in Hazel Grove must now fork out £31 per car to park, per year.

It comes just as Stockport NHS Foundation Trust prepares to hike its car parking fees by 40pc, making it the most expensive hospital trust in Greater Manchester at £3.50 for up to two hours.

The parking permit scheme is already in place on several roads around Stepping Hill but residents claim the extended scheme has been ‘snuck in’ to include hundreds more homes.

As well as Green Lane, Grenville Road and Norman Avenue, those living on Mount Pleasant, Gordon Avenue, Stanley Avenue, Charles Street, John Street, Albert Street, Willard Street and halfway down Neville Street must now pay the charges.

One resident in the new permit zone said he understood the council had brought the scheme in to stop hospital users blocking up the streets, but didn’t agree they should be paying for it.

He said: “We pay council tax, road tax, vehicle tax – why should we pay this as well? The council tried to bring in this scheme a couple of years ago and sent us a letter asking us to respond if we wanted the permits.

“No one did and we didn’t hear any more of it. This time they changed it, saying we had to respond if we didn’t want the scheme.

“It was a cack-handed way of getting authorisation from residents, and no-one knew about the consultation meeting, we weren’t invited.”

According to the council, each household is entitled to a maximum of three resident passes, and one visitor pass.

Sue Stevenson, the council’s interim head of highways and transportation, said: “When a new scheme is introduced, a thorough process is undertaken to establish levels of parking demand and the acceptability of the scheme to the residents. Following consultation, the proposed scheme then needs to be approved by the local councillors.

“In all cases the requirement for a parking scheme is driven by the inability of residents to park due to excess parking by non-residents working at or visiting a nearby destination. The scheme is a consequence of local residents requesting the council to develop a scheme, which is supported by local residents,” she said.